Reflective narrative on my practicum

1. Reflective Narrative on my Practicum - by Oriana BalariReflective Narrative on my Practicum - by Oriana Balari
Since the very first day we started teaching together with my pedagogical partner Rocío
Martínez, we worked really hard to try to create a relaxed environment for both the children
and ourselves to feel comfortable during the lessons. In order to achieve this goal, and also
to make the lessons more interactive, we thought of fun activities to do for each class and
we tried to encourage the students to work in groups and help each other.
What brought me joy the most from the practicum was the bond created with the students,
specially with Alejandro. When we started teaching, he was completely refused to do the
activities we proposed, he was angry all the time, he challenged us all the time and he did
totally the opposite of what we asked him to do. For our second and last lesson of the 'CLIL
project', lesson plan 12, we prepared a little present for each of them to be given at the end.
But, as after the English lesson they had to move to their usual classroom, we told them that
only the ones who made a line were going to receive the present. Alejandro was the only
one who didn't make the line, so we told him that, at least during that lesson, he was not
going to be given the soap. We left the children in their classroom and waved them goodbye,
and then we went back to the English classroom to pack our things and put the room in
order. While we were doing this, Alejandro came into the classroom and started writing on
the board 'Seño, quiero uno', and then he left. Some minutes later, he came back. But this
time he stayed by the door. So I told him to come in and asked him with a sad voice why he
behaved that way (as he had been behaving badly during the whole class) and why he was
always angry, and then I gave him a hug. Surprisingly, he hugged me back. I called Ro, she
joined us and then we gave him the present.

2. The next time we went to the school after that lesson was for the 'Acto de la tradición'.
When we arrived, Alejandro saw us and he came and gave each of us a hug. He was super
happy and he smiled all the time. We couldn't believe that was happening, but we were more
than happy for it and for him. When the act finished, he looked for us to say goodbye and he
gave us another hug and a kiss. Deffinitely, this was what brought me joy the most.
My favourite lessons were the 'special' ones, I mean, the lessons during which we carried
out different projects such as the 'Magic Bag' and the 'CLIL' project. These were my favourite
lessons for many reasons. First of all, because all the students participated. As you teachers
may know, during most of our practicum it was difficult for us to call the attention of the
whole class and get them engaged with the contents of the lesson. However, more towards
the end of our practicum, we realized that if we used images and videos that they knew from
some other contexts, they were more interested on the lessons. Therefore, for the 'Magic
Bag Project' we wrote a short story using the monsters we were working with. Another thing
that catches their attention is the use of visual aids and songs. For this reason, we used a
song to present the topic during the 'CLIL project' and we printed colourful flashcards with
the main vocabulary from the song so as to make a listening activity. As regards the 'Magic
Bag project', we draw the monsters from the story and we used them for the setting during
storytelling.
Another reason to consider these my favourite classes was the fact that we acted out little
scenes on both lessons. For the 'CLIL project', at the very beginning I told Ro to wash her
hands before eating in order to avoid getting sick. And for the 'Magic Bag project' Ro acted
out the story as I was telling it in order to help the students understand. And this leads me to
the last reason why I chose these lessons, which is that, even though lots of new vocabulary
items were presented during these classes, we were able to use English most of the time
and help the students understand through the use of body language and gestures.

4. Nowadays, I have become good at thinking of interesting activities for the students to do
and also, at adapting them according to the students' level. When we first started teaching, it
was really difficult for me to find the right activity or to think in a creative way so as to
propose activities which would help the students with the contents but in a fun way in order
to get them engaged. However, now I am much more resourceful and creative. Apart from
this, I'm much more confident when standing in front of the students and I extremely enjoy
teaching.
As regards the subject as a whole, I enjoyed preparing and delivering the practical on
which we had to plan a lesson using songs and then being one of 'the students' during my
classmates' ​​delivery of their lesson. As a suggestion, I'm thinking of the fact that it is easier
for me to learn theoretical concepts if I put them into practice. So I would say that it would
have been useful to solve practicals that, instead of asking theoretical questions would have
asked me to apply the theory on a specific case, as it is done in the parciales, for example. I
would also have liked to work with the topic of children with special needs (I know it's on the
theory, but we didn't work so much with it during the lessons and it was not evaluated,
either), especially because there was a child in our group of students who was in a

5. wheelchair and who didn't talk nor write, so we didn't really know how to adapt the activities
for her.
As regards me as a teacher, I think the teacher my country/the world needs me to be is
one who cares for her students and for their education. And also for education in general.
Because it is a tool to which all human beings should have access, and the world/country
needs teachers that make sure that happens. I think we should worry not only for the
children who go to schools, but also, and perhaps even more, for those children who do not
go to school because of different reasons. Maybe that's the kind of teacher my country/the
world needs me to be. One of those who care about giving the tool of knowledge to those
powerless.